Luca Antonio Pagnini

Luca Antonio Pagnini (15 January 173721 March 1814) was an Italian writer and a scholar and translator of Greco-Roman literature.

Biography Luca Antonio Pagnini was born in Pistoia to a poor family. His abilities and the good training he received from Cesare Franchini attracted attention to him, and the Carmelites invited him to join their chapter in Florence. On entering the Carmelite Order he changed his name to Giuseppe Maria. Later he was sent to Parma, where he taught philosophy in the college of his Order. The writer Frugoni took note of the young man and obtained for him an appointment as teacher in the University of Parma. He soon was teaching rhetoric and Greek language. He became noted as a prolific translator of classic poetry and writings. He also published arcadian poetry under the pseudonym of Eritisco Pilenejo. He was forced to leave Parma after the death of Duke Ferdinand, and move to Pisa, where he was named as professor of Greek, and afterwards of Latin literature. He became a corresponding member of the Accademia della Crusca.

His translations are his chief claim to remembrance, especially his Horace (1814). Among Pagnini's translations is a version of the Greek bucolic poets: Poesie Bucoliche Italiane, Latine, e Greche, Parma, 1780.